FDA

You may have seen someone firing one up in a restaurant – where you thought smoking was banned. Maybe a friend or relative uses them. Or maybe you have tried to kick a cigarette habit by using one: an electronic cigarette.

These are the battery-powered inhalers that are loaded with a replaceable or refillable cartridge of liquid “juice” that can contain nicotine, solvents and flavors. Puffing on an e-cig is called “vaping.” And there’s little doubt vaping is here to stay.

Sales of e-cigs have grown from around $500 million in 2012 to around $1.5 billion last year.

Right now, there’s no regulation on e-cigs, beyond the FDA telling e-cig makers they may not market their products as a way to quit smoking. And there’s nothing to keep the e-cigs from being sold to minors.

That has ignited debate in Lansing.

Associated Press reporter Emma Fidel has been looking into the state’s efforts to keep e-cigs out of the hands of kids under age 18.

The food industry wants the government to give the okay for calling products using genetically engineered ingredients “natural” foods.

I went to my local grocery store looking for the term “natural” or “naturally” and I didn’t have to go very far.

In the cereal aisle I found products labeled “naturally flavored,” “100% natural,” and an “all natural pancake mix.” A couple aisles over, looking at the chips there were “all natural” pretzels, “naturally sweet” popcorn, and then there was a drink with a label that read “naturally flavored beverage with other natural flavors blended with vitamins.”

Congress is trying to speed up the review process for new medicines and devices while still keeping them safe. A bill before the House would increase the amount of money and authority given to the Food and Drug Administration to do that.

Congressman John Dingell represents Michigan's 15th District and supports the bill. He says one way the new bill will protect the drug supply is by increasing the FDA's authority over imported medicine.

"[The User Fee bill] enables [the] Food and Drug [Administration] to address the problems that we had (i.e. unsafe pharmaceuticals and unsafe commodities and components for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals in this country," Dingell said. "So Food and Drug can control them now."

Drug and medical device manufacturers typically pay user fees that fund the reviews by the Food and Drug Administration. The new bill will expand those fees to more companies, including international ones.

"This is the best way of leveling the playing field between American manufacturers and foreign manufacturers" said Dingell, "and also seeing to it that everybody -- consumers, manufacturers and all get the services that they're entitled to from [the] Food and Drug [Administration]."

Patient safety advocates are against parts of the bill. They say even tougher reviews should be applied to medical devices.

Bridget Bodnar filed the report for Michigan Radio. The story generated a lot of buzz on the Michigan Radio comment page, and got picked up by AnnArbor.com as well.

Bodnar talked to about a dozen women who used Glittersniffer Cosmetics, including one woman who said the eye makeup "started to burn and itch and I just wanted to rub, and dig my eyeballs out of my face they hurt so badly.”